


The Little Things (Or: Five Times Erin didn’t realize Holtzmann is in Love with Her and One Time She did)

by Dreamshaper



Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: ALL THE FLUFF, F/F, and it's not an AU!, five times trope, something cute after all the angst in my previous one lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-25
Updated: 2018-05-11
Packaged: 2019-04-27 20:21:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14433351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreamshaper/pseuds/Dreamshaper
Summary: It takes Erin a while to realize that Holtzmann feels more for her than simple friendship, but she's getting there.





	1. Coffee Run

**Author's Note:**

> After all the evil things I put those two lovely dorks through in my previous story, I figured they, I, and you people here deserve some fluff XD Enjoy :D

Erin put down her pen and stifled a yawn as she rubbed her eyes; already when she picked up her coffee mug, she could tell that it wouldn’t satisfy her, and a brief glance confirmed her worst fears, just a tiny bit of coffee left, sloshing in the mug.

Now she let the yawn out, disappointed at the emptiness of the mug; she emptied it, with one way too small gulp, then got up from her seat and made her way from her desk to the firehouse’s kitchen, already looking forward to the refill – after all, it had been Abby’s turn to brew the coffee this day, and she knew that Abby always made the coffee quite strong.

She was quite disappointed when she picked up the coffee pot and found it empty, not even a single drop of the wonderful coffee left.

“Nooooo”, she let out, perhaps with more drama than strictly necessary, “why? Who emptied the coffee pot?”

“I did”, Patty called over from her desk, looking amused at Erin’s drama, “just so Holtzy won’t get any of that devil’s brew Abby calls coffee. Girl is crazy enough when she’s not hyped up on caffeine.”

“I heard that”, Holtzmann announced her presence as she came sliding down the pole, as if to prove Patty’s point, unlaced combat boots landing on the floor with a resounding _thump_ , “I’m so hurt, Patty. And your efforts, brave as they were, are for naught, because I’ll make a coffee run.”

“Don’t traumatize the barista again”, Patty replied with a sigh, earning a cackle from Holtzmann, the sound already fading as the engineer was moving towards the door; and only when the door fell close behind the blonde, Erin realized that she had been so distracted by her mourning over the gone coffee that she hadn’t had a chance to ask Holtzmann if she’d bring her a coffee, too.

She let out another sigh, feeling perhaps more disheartened by this than she should have; telling herself that she could handle this and that she was too dependent on caffeine anyway, she helped herself to an orange juice from the fridge instead and went back to her desk, trying hard to focus on her work and to not think of coffee.

This got considerably harder when she heard the door open and realized that it was Holtzmann coming back from her coffee run; and for a moment, she felt unreasonably jealous, imagining how the hot coffee would run down Holtzmann’s throat to her belly and turn into sweet, lovely energy from there.

She wondered if these thoughts were somewhat unhealthy and showed how addicted to caffeine she actually was; she asked herself if perhaps, she should seriously try to cut back on her coffee intake, grimacing at the mere thought though, not wanting to imagine how she would function for a week or two without her daily coffee.

And just when she decided that cutting back was not an option – she barely had any other vices, after all, she didn’t smoke and didn’t drink much and didn’t have sex with strangers, neither unprotected nor protected – Holtzmann came sauntering over to her desk, Erin’s eyes going wide when the engineer put a take-away cup of coffee and a small brown paper bag with a familiar and beloved logo down right in front of her.

“Cappuccino with no whipped cream, an extra shot of espresso and just a splash of milk”, Holtzmann said as Erin looked up at her, still wide-eyed, impressed now by the ease with which the engineer was reciting her coffee order, “and a croissant, with chocolate filling. Enjoy, hot stuff.”

“Thank you so much”, Erin sighed, grasping the cup with both hands, the way a drowning woman might grasp a lifeline, “you’re a lifesaver, Holtz. What do I owe you for that?”

“Nothing”, Holtzmann replied, dismissing Erin’s protest with a wave of her hand, “that one’s on me, if only so you’ll stop looking at the coffee pot as if it’s your dead puppy.”

“Dark”, Erin commented, raising an eyebrow; Holtzmann smirked and shrugged, then replied with “Me”, turning on the spot and sauntering back to the stairs which led up to her lab before Erin had the chance to reply to this.

“Huh”, Erin let out as Holtzmann skipped up the stairs noisily, somehow not splashing her coffee on the way – probably because it was more syrup than coffee, the physicist thought to herself, “she knows my coffee order by heart? Impressive.”

“Girl, of course she does”, Patty replied, with one of her by now patented eye-rolls; Erin gave her a confused look in response, and Patty mumbled something under her breath which sounded suspiciously like “utterly hopeless”, shaking her head to herself.

Feeling more confused than ever, Erin demanded to know what she was talking about; Patty just sighed and shook her head again, then told her that it’d do no good if she just told her, and to be patient.

“You’re a super smart scientist”, she added at Erin’s frown, “I’m sure you’ll figure it out on your own.”

Erin could only stare at her, but clearly, Patty wasn’t willing to say more; and so, she shrugged the historian’s weird behaviour off and took a sip from her coffee instead, almost moaning as the taste exploded on her tongue.

It was just how she liked it, the perfect balance of coffee and milk; she was duly impressed by how well Holtzmann had memorized her order, taking another slow sip and feeling delighted, completely missing the knowing look Patty shot her over her book.

And it was a good thing she had missed that look, because it only would have confused her more.


	2. Lunch Time

While it had been Abby’s turn to make coffee that day, it was Erin and Holtzmann’s turn to get lunch; punctually at twelve o’clock, Holtzmann came rushing down the pole again, smiling brightly at Erin as she walked over to her while putting on her steel-rimmed yellow glasses, performing an exaggerated bow, then holding her hand out, a somewhat melodramatic tone in her voice as well when she spoke up.

“Dearest, loveliest Erin, most brilliant physicist of them all”, she said, making Erin blush and giggle while Patty rolled her eyes yet again, “it has been declared that it’s our turn to get nourishment for our fellow Ghostbusters. Will you do me the honour and accompany me on this noble quest?”

“Yes”, Erin gave back, putting her pen down and coming to her feet, “just let me grab my jacket.”

“Excellent”, Holtzmann grinned, then dropped down to one knee to tie her shoelaces, earning a look of approval from Erin – it already made her nervous when Holtzmann walked and ran around in the firehouse with her laces untied, and walking outside with her like that only made her dismay about this grow.

She smiled at the engineer, even though Holtzmann couldn’t see it thanks to her position, then went to get her jacket; and while she put it on, Holtzmann finished tying her laces, then skipped over to where Erin was waiting for her at the door, right past her, the physicist raising an eyebrow at her when she pulled the door open for her.

“It’s not sexist when another woman does it”, Holtzmann said before Erin could make any sort of comment, “just chivalrous. I’m like your knight. Sir Holtzmann.”

“Dame”, Erin corrected as she stepped outside, Holtzmann following her, both of them missing the long-suffering look Abby and Patty exchanged at their dramatic little displays, “the correct female form of Sir is Dame.”

“Dame Holtzmann then”, Holtzmann shrugged while they walked side by side, to the nearest deli, “as long as I get to be your chivalrous protector and opener of doors.”

“Aw”, was all Erin could let out, feeling her cheeks heat up again; she cleared her throat and reminded herself that Holtzmann wasn’t serious, that she was just joking and that there was no sincere intention behind her flirty words and sometimes innuendo-laden one-liners.

She had told herself those exact things dozens of times ever since Holtzmann and she had met and had started working together, but she found it harder and harder to believe herself.

Holtzmann gave her a toothy grin and winked, and the blush which just had started to fade came back with full force; cursing her tendency to react like this whenever Holtzmann did or said something flirty, Erin managed to smile back at her, and just then, they reached the deli, and Holtzmann held the door open for her again, and made her blush _again._

_One of these days, this is going to become a health hazard,_ Erin thought to herself while Holtzmann vanished from her side and into one of the aisles, _you really have to get a grip on this, jeez._

While Holtzmann was getting God knew what, probably snacks and drinks, Erin thought to herself, she went to the counter and ordered their sandwiches, knowing by now what Abby and Patty liked to have on theirs.

As she waited for her order, she looked around the deli, even though she knew the layout practically by heart by now, considering how often they came here; Holtzmann coming back distracted her from her observations, and she smiled at the engineer, feeling her heart flutter oddly when the blonde beamed back at her.

“You sure you got enough?” Erin wanted to know as she took a closer look at her friend, and noticed the bottles of soda and bags and packages of snacks she was holding, raising an eyebrow; Holtzmann’s grin impossibly widened even further as she shrugged, somehow without dropping anything, moving to stand next to her as she replied.

“Maybe more salty parabolas”, she said, earning another raised eyebrow from Erin, “but if I try to get those now I’ll drop everything. So nah, I’m good.”

“Okay”, Erin gave back, and just then, the sandwiches were done; she took the bag from the man and thanked him, then made her way to the cashier’s desk with Holtzmann, surprised when the engineer insisted on paying everything, even though they usually shared the costs.

“Most of those snacks and drinks are for me anyway”, Holtzmann reasoned, ignoring Erin’s protest, “you can pay next time when I get less unhealthy stuff for my sweet and spicy tooth!”

“Alright then”, the physicist gave in, knowing that discussing would lead nowhere anyway; and so, Holtzmann paid after she had put all the items in her backpack, whistling a happy tune as they walked back to the firehouse side by side, Erin finding herself unable to hold back a smile at how happy and carefree the engineer was.

“Oh hey wait”, Holtzmann said just as they reached the firehouse, prompting Erin to stop and look at her curiously, “I got you a little something, just for you and you alone.”

She opened her backpack and reached inside, rummaging around for a bit – before she pulled out a box of animal crackers, Erin’s eyes lighting up at the sight, because even though she knew those technically were for kids, she just loved them, a guilty pleasure she had thought no one else knew about.

“Hide them from Kevin”, the engineer advised with a wink, “he loves them almost as much as you do. And your secret’s safe with me.”

“Thank you”, was all Erin could say, oddly touched by the small gesture; Holtzmann gave her another bright grin, then slung her backpack over her shoulder again and made her way into the firehouse, Erin following her after she had carefully stowed the crackers in her bag, feeling oddly tingly at the small gesture and wondering what this feeling meant.


	3. Weapon Testing

After lunch had been eaten, Holtzmann declared that now it was time for another round of weapon testing, one of her favourite things; she asked the other three to meet her at their “testing grounds”, the alley behind the firehouse, in ten minutes, and Erin nodded in excitement, enjoying these demonstrations almost as much as Holtzmann herself did.

The ten minutes seemed to take forever to pass, the physicist fidgeting on her seat as she fought the urge to count the seconds; finally though, it was time, and she almost shot up from her seat, ignoring how Abby raised an eyebrow at her eagerness and once again missing the look the researcher exchanged with Patty afterwards.

“Welcome”, Holtzmann cried in her best announcer voice, making Erin smile, “to this week’s weapon testing day! Dr Erin Gilbert, please step forward, you’ll be our first participant!”

“Of course she is”, Patty whispered to Abby, making the researcher snicker; Erin gave them a confused look, but they both smiled innocently at her, and she shrugged it off, moving to stand next to what Holtzmann usually called the Table of Treats instead of pondering this any further.

“Behold”, Holtzmann said dramatically, picking up something which looked oddly like the grip of a Star Wards lightsaber, “the Proton Blade. Good for those pesky ghosts which intrude into your personal space.”

She handed the thing to Erin and took a step back, then pointed the small button out to the physicist, positioned so that she could easily reach it with her thumb; curious, Erin pushed the button, only to yelp and nearly drop the weapon when a two foot long proton stream emerged with an audible _fwooom_ sound, flickering slightly as they all stared at it.

“No worries”, Holtzmann said at the way Patty was beginning to frown, “like the proton grenades, it’s only dangerous to ghosts. Well, except for the radiation I guess, so Erin, please try to not stab any of us with it.”

“I’ll try my best”, Erin reassured her, marvelling at the weapon, swinging it this way and that; sadly, it didn’t make any lightsaber noises, but it still looked impressive, and she beamed at Holtzmann, Abby and Patty exchanging another look while the engineer grinned back at the physicist.

“This is great, Holtz”, Erin said, giving the proton blade another swing before she pushed the button again at last and the beam vanished, “thank you so much!”

“My pleasure, hot stuff”, Holtzmann told her, smile widening when Erin blushed visibly at the pet name, “considering how often the ghosts like to get close and personal with you to slime you, I figured some sort of blade would be a good idea. And then I saw the Star Wars shirt you wear to sleep, and, well…”

“Aw, that’s so sweet”, Erin gushed, Holtzmann giving her a proud grin, clearly happy about her reaction; she showed Erin the little clip she had added to the grip, so the weapon could be fastened to the proton pack’s belt, and once this had been demonstrated, Erin threw both arms around the engineer in a spontaneous hug, thanks to the tightness of the embrace missing how Holtzmann’s eyes briefly widened in surprise.

It took her another second to react, not having expected this at all, then she hugged Erin back; she swallowed heavily as she felt the physicist’s body against her own, fighting hard to not let any reaction show, not wanting to freak Erin out by letting her notice how good it made her feel to be held this way by her.

She had mixed feelings when Erin pulled back again, dismayed and relieved at the same time; and she hid those feelings well, something she had gotten quite good at during the years, thanks to her tendency to develop crushes on straight girls.

It was Erin who cleared her throat and fidgeted awkwardly for a moment, confusing Holtzmann quite a bit since she had been the one to initiate the hug in the first place; her cheeks were reddened again, too, the blush only fading slowly, and Holtzmann found herself wondering why she would react like this to a simple hug.

“Alright”, she said, suddenly eager to distract herself from this weirdness, “Abby! You’re up next!”

“Yay”, Abby said, smiling as she moved to the Table of Treats; Erin took a few steps back to give them room, smiling at Patty when the historian expressed admiration for her new weapon, then both of them focused on Holtzmann and Abby, curious what the engineer had come up with for the researcher.

Usually, Erin focused on the new gadgets and weapons during these testing times, as Abby and Patty did, so they would all know which equipment the group had and how it worked, just in case one of them would be incapacitated during a bust and wouldn’t be able to make use of it; this time though, she found it hard to focus on what Holtzmann was demonstrating and explaining to Abby, and for a rather new, weird reason.

She couldn’t stop looking at Holtzmann’s hands, no matter how hard she tried.

Erin had been aware that Holtzmann tended to use her hands a lot whenever she spoke, gesticulating enough to make her wonder if somewhere in the engineer’s past, there was an Italian great-grandma or something similar; this never had distracted her so far from what the engineer was telling them though, at least not as much as it was happening right now.

Her gaze kept moving from the engineer’s face to her hands, watching how nimbly her fingers moved as she spoke and demonstrated, the security with which they handled the weapon and pointed out the various parts; and she watched, she felt the odd tingling feeling again, and once again asked herself what it might mean.


	4. Distraction

After the weapon testing, Erin had felt good and confident, even a bit hyped up after the weapon Holtzmann had made especially for her; this hadn’t lasted for long though, as she gone back to her own work and now found herself hopelessly stuck in an equation Holtzmann needed for her work, her frustration growing with each second she spent staring at it and just couldn’t crack it.

Still she stared at it for another ten minutes before she threw her pen down and gave up, groaning as she brought up her hands to rub her temples; for another minute, she just sat there, then got up from her seat and, once again missing the looks from both Abby and Patty, made her way upstairs to Holtzmann’s lab, because whenever she got stuck like this, as rarely as it thankfully happened, being around Holtzmann always helped her relax and figure out the problem.

The engineer was busy at one of her several workbenches, working on what looked like an upgraded version of the proton shotgun she had made for Erin when they still had had the lab above the restaurant; she stopped her work and looked up though when she heard Erin approach, and immediately gave her a bright smile which made the physicist feel that odd tingly feeling again.

“Hey hot stuff”, Holtzmann said, “something I can help you with?”

“Not really”, Erin gave back, suddenly realizing that so far, she never had told Holtzmann about how hanging out in her lab helped her whenever she got stuck in her own work, “I just needed a bit of a distraction, I’m kinda stuck in my equations. Um, the one you need for that updated proton grenade, I’m sorry…”

“No worries, cupcake”, Holtzmann reassured her, making her blush once more at the endearment, and she wondered if she ever would get used to Holtzmann addressing her with those, “take your time, there’s no deadline or anything. And you know I’m always willing to provide distractions.”

She winked, and Erin smiled back at her, even though she could feel her cheeks heat up yet again; she distracted herself from the weird tingling by pointing out that she didn’t want to keep Holtzmann from her work though, not surprised the slightest when the engineer shrugged it off and told her it was no problem.

“I can work with an audience”, she then added with another wink, before she went back to work; and for a while, Erin leaned comfortably against one of the other workbenches and just watched her, listening to the music she had playing in the background, once again paying  more attention than usual to her hands.

It was fascinating, she thought to herself, how nimble Holtzmann’s fingers were, moving over the parts of the shotgun with impressive speed and security, no matter if said parts were big and clunky or tiny and slim; she knew that Holtzmann was good at what she did, but she never had fully realized how good exactly the engineer was, once more coming to the conclusion that Abby had been right when she had called her brilliant.

This wasn’t the first time she agreed with this assessment, far from it; now though, she found herself wondering if she ever actually had said it loud, remembering that she had told Holtzmann how impressive her work was when they had started the Ghostbusters, but suddenly not sure anymore if she showed the engineer her appreciation enough.

“You’re really good at this”, she blurted out, then fought the urge to roll her eyes at herself when Holtzmann paused her work and shot her a confused look, clearly not sure where this had come from now.

“I mean”, Erin tried to explain, feeling her cheeks heat up, “all of this, um…” She made a vague gesture at the workbenches, suddenly feeling quite the need to tell Holtzmann how much she appreciated her and her work, and her tell in a way which she would understand.

“All of the work you do”, she tried to clarify, “I know I’ve told you it’s impressive when we started this, but I don’t think I’m telling you enough. So… I really appreciate all of this, Holtz. I really appreciate you.”

“Oh”, Holtzmann let out, clearly not having expected that, smiling brightly a second later though, the smile warming Erin’s heart, “that’s… really sweet. And I know you appreciate me, so no worries there, but… it’s nice to hear it out loud, you know.”

Erin smiled back at her, feeling a sudden urge to hug her; and while she still wondered if she should do so, or if it might be considered weird or out of place, but before she could come to a decision, the song which had been playing ended and a new one started, Holtzmann letting out an adorable “oooh” sound as her eyes lit up behind her safety goggles.

“I love this song!” she added, hips already swaying, Erin finding herself unable to hold back a smile – she’d never admit it out loud, but she loved to watch Holtzmann dance, and this time it was no different, the physicist nodding her head along with the music as Holtzmann got into the rhythm.

If she had been braver, she thought to herself, she might have joined Holtzmann, might have danced with her; the last time she had danced, she had been high on adrenaline though, after their first successful bust, and now, she didn’t feel this way, and was all too aware of how awkward her dancing could be, not daring to join, even though part of her knew that Holtzmann would never make fun of her.

_She’d probably be overjoyed if you danced with her_ , she thought to herself, unable to look away as Holtzmann spun and moved, _you could tell how much she liked it when you danced at the bar with her that one time…_

Holtzmann grinned at her and winked, and Erin felt her cheeks heat up… and along with the heat from her face, she also felt those odd tingles again, and this time, they came with heat further south, pooling in her stomach and making her heart beat faster.

She swallowed heavily as she wondered again what this meant, and where these strange feelings would lead.


	5. Dame in Shiny Armour

As a few days went by, Erin noticed that the tingling feeling and that odd heat were caused more and more often by Holtzmann, usually when the engineer did something nice for her; and now that she paid attention to this, she noticed how often this actually happened, even f it was just little things, like Holtzmann bringing her coffee or buying her favourite crackers whenever it was her turn to go out and get lunch.

She refused to think too much about what these feelings meant though, somewhat afraid of what these thoughts might lead to; and so, she just smiled whenever Holtzmann did something nice for her, and blushed, and thanked her, and always tried her best to ignore the tingles the engineer made her feel.

This got considerably harder on Friday night, when the four of them went out for drinks after a successful week for the Ghostbusters, and the alcohol seemed to increase the frequency with which those tingles happened.

She was glad that at least, she could blame said alcohol for her flushed cheeks, should anyone ask her about it; thankfully, nobody did, but when Holtzmann’s bare forearm accidentally bumped into hers as the engineer explained something with a lot of gesturing, she felt her flush increase, and quickly downed her drink, declaring that she would get refills, just as an excuse to get away for a few minutes, give herself time to recover.

She wondered if she was imagining Holtzmann’s eyes on her back as she made her way to the bar, but didn’t dare to look back, not sure what it would do to her, should she find out that Holtzmann really was watching her go.

So, Erin focused on making her way to the bar, and on getting the barkeep’s attention once she was there; before she could succeed with this task though, someone cleared her throat next to her, then said “Hi”, something she didn’t react to at first, only realizing that she had been the one addressed when a hand touched her upper arm.

“Hi?” she gave back, turning a bit to look at the speaker, who turned out to be a man her age; before the Ghostbusters, she thought to herself as she took a closer look, she even might have enjoyed talking to him, might have felt flattered that he had talked to her first, but now, she only found him quite average and not all too interesting, the toothy smile he gave her not helping with making that first impression any better.

“Hi”, he said again, holding out his hand, “I’m Ryan.”

_That_ name was as bland and average as his looks, Erin thought to herself, then scolded herself for judging him by his looks and name; she told herself to not be rude like that, but before she could say anything, he continued, confirming the first impression she’d had of him.

“So”, he said, with what he probably thought was a charming smile, but looked more like a grimace, “what’s a girl like you doing in a place like this?”

“Oh my God”, Erin blurted out before she could stop herself, her tongue too loosened by the alcohol to let her usual politeness hold the words back, “really? That line is so old. Obviously, I’m getting drinks. For myself. And my friends. Who’re over there.”

Now she felt a bit awkward as she gestured at the table, but apparently, Holtzmann had been watching, and that was enough to gain her attention fully; she came to her feet, and Erin immediately felt grateful, even though she knew she could have handled the guy on her own, figuring that it couldn’t hurt to have some backup.

“Eriiiin”, Holtzmann crowed when she still was a few feet away, loud enough to turn several heads, Ryan’s among them, “we’re thirsty! So thirsty!”

She moved up to Erin’s side, snuggling up against her like a sort of biped cat; Ryan stared as if she had two heads, and Erin had to hold back a somewhat mischievous giggle, knowing well how odd Holtzmann could seem to someone who didn’t know her.

“Um, you know each other?” Ryan wanted to know, looking at Erin with honest confusion; she held back another giggle as she nodded, his confusion only growing when Holtzmann slung one arm across Erin’s shoulders.

“Yes, we do”, Erin told him while Holtzmann remained snuggled close to her, making her feel decidedly warm, and perhaps not just with her body heat, “of course we do, we’re colleagues. And best friends. My other two best friends are over there, like I said.”

“And we are all thirsty!” Holtzmann repeated her earlier declaration, pulling a dramatic face and gasping, as if she just had wandered through the desert for days; Erin barely listened though, suddenly acutely aware of Holtzmann’s arm over her shoulders, her hand on her upper arm, so much more welcome than Ryan’s brief touch had been.

“Erin promised us refills”, Holtzmann was saying to Ryan when Erin managed to tune back into the talk, “but you are keeping her from getting those. Rude.”

“I’m sorry?” Ryan gave back, sounding more confused than ever, “I didn’t realize you… are thirsty? And waiting for her?”

“Well, now you do”, Holtzmann told him, beaming at him in a way which made it kind of impossible to get mad at her for what she said next, “so make like a tree and leave, hm? Before Abby and Patty get too thirsty and come here too, then it’ll get so crowded and we might lose our table!”

“Um”, Ryan let out, blinking, then turned and left without another word; Erin giggled as she watched him go, feeling the tingles again when Holtzmann looked at her and her beaming grin turned into a much kinder smile.

“Glad you’re giggling and not yelling at me”, she said, Erin shaking her head at once, “I was worried for a moment there you were actually enjoying Ryan’s flirtations. Or his attempts at them.”

“Nah”, Erin said with another shake of her head, “I’m glad you came over, really. I could have handled him on my own, but sometimes, such guys can be hard to get rid of. So…Let’s get those refills?”

Holtzmann nodded and gave her another happy smile, Erin smiling back just as happily; they turned to the bar again, flagging the barkeep down fairly fast this time, and just after their drinks had been ordered, Erin suddenly cried “oh my God!”, prompting Holtzmann to jump before she gave her a confused look.

“I just got the make like a tree line”, Erin explained her sudden outburst; Holtzmann gaped at her for a few more seconds – before she started to laugh, and Erin joined in at once, suddenly feeling so good and content that it almost seemed as if her heart might burst.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I really have a thing for Holtz rescuing Erin from random guys at bars. XD


	6. Adding Up

In the next afternoon, all obnoxious men and tingling feelings and odd thoughts which were about more than friendship with Holtzmann were forgotten as the team had been called to an emergency bust; and the ghost turned out to be quite skilled at avoiding them, fast and agile, somehow managing to move out of the way each time they fired their proton streams at it.

“Damn you, hold still”, Abby snapped as the ghost moved out of the way again, the apparition letting out a mean laugh in response; it flew an almost artistic looping, then suddenly turned again – and rushed straight at Erin, the physicist just having time to let her eyes widen as the ghost unhinged its jaw.

She had a second to realize that she either was about to get hit, or slimed, not sure which option actually would be worse… and then, she saw a blur of movement from her left, before she got pushed somewhat harshly, hard enough to make her stumble a few steps, just out of the danger zone.

The ghost was unperturbed by the sudden change of target as slime spewed from its wide open mouth, Erin feeling quite sympathetic as the green goo drenched Holtzmann, knowing very well how it felt to get slimed like this.

At least though, the ghost being busy with sliming Holtzmann kept it from moving away again when the other three fired; it shrieked in indignation as the proton beams wrapped around it this time, the slime stopping, Holtzmann sputtering and gasping, yanking off her glasses to see and to be able to help.

“The trap Holtzy!” Patty shouted, and even though she still had slime in her eyes and found it difficult to see, Holtzmann managed to throw the trap beneath the ghost with impressive accuracy; she slammed foot down onto the control pedal and it snapped open, the ghost howling in protest as it got sucked into the trap.

“Holtz”, Erin said the second the ghost was gone and the trap had been shut, rushing to the engineer’s side, “oh my God, are you okay? Why’d you do that?!”

“You get slimed all the time”, Holtzmann shrugged, then spat noisily as talking had allowed some slime to get into her mouth, simultaneously wiping at her eyes, “I figured I’d rescue you this time. That stuff tastes disgusting.”

“I got minty chewing gum in my pocket”, Erin let her know, feeling her heart clench up oddly at the ease with which Holtzmann had taken that sliming for her, “it helps, a bit. You can borrow my shampoo and shower gel too back at the firehouse, the brands I have there are those which work best against the slime.”

“Thanks hot stuff”, Holtzmann beamed, her smile looking a bit creepy now thanks to the slime which still clung to her face, her lips and teeth; still Erin smiled back at her, then went to pick up the trap, the four of them heading to their car afterwards, both Erin and Holtzmann missing the look Abby and Patty exchanged at what the engineer just had done.

* * *

Abby and Patty headed home fairly quickly after the bust, right after they had changed from their busting coveralls into their regular clothing; they told Erin that they were going, but the physicist barely reacted with more than an absent-minded “uh-huh”, having been sitting and staring at the same page of her notebook ever since they had made it back to the firehouse.

“Tell Holtzmann we left”, Abby added, just to find out if Erin was listening; she replied with the same “uh-huh”, and Abby held back the urge as she left with Patty, making sure to wait for the door to fall shut before she commented on how that incident would hopefully finally open Erin’s eyes.

“It better”, Patty grumbled her agreement, shaking her head, “this has been going on for so long, if it takes any longer, who knows what other ideas Holtzy might get.”

Erin had no idea of this talk happening, still staring at her notebook without really seeing what was written on the page; instead, she kept thinking about all the things Holtzmann had been doing for her the past weeks, months, even, all of the little favours and compliments having culminated in Holtzmann actually taking a sliming for her.

The sound of booted feet coming down the stairs distracted her, and she looked up, just in time to meet Holtzmann’s eyes as the blonde came down the stairs; she was dressed in fresh clothing, all the slime gone, her hair up in its usual do, and she smiled brightly at Erin, making the physicist’s heart skip a beat.

“Hey”, she said before Holtzmann could say something, “all cleaned up?”

“Yeppers”, Holtzmann gave back, gesturing at herself as if for emphasis, “your stuff really works well, thanks for letting me use it.”

“No problem”, Erin told her, then fell silent, the engineer taking note of how her fingers twitched, a clear sign that she was nervous; Holtzmann gave her a concerned look, but before she could ask if something was wrong, Erin continued, now finding it hard to look her in the eye as she spoke.

“I’ve been thinking”, she let the engineer know, fighting the urge to get up and start pacing, “about… well… all the things you’ve been doing for me. All those little kind gestures, small gifts, the compliments…”

Holtzmann just nodded, not sure where this would lead, but sensing that Erin had more to say; she started to feel nervous herself, with how uncomfortable the physicist was looking, wondering if she’d be told to back off now, if Erin had enough of her flirting and the little gestures and would want her to stop.

“And what you did today”, Erin continued, finally looking up again to meet her eyes, Holtzmann a bit relieved to see that there was nothing negative in the other woman’s gaze, “that wasn’t a little thing anymore. It could have ended so badly, you could have gotten hurt and… it sort of… opened my eyes. And now I want to do something for you, I’m not sure if it’ll be a little thing or a big one but…”

She trailed off and got up from her seat, Holtzmann watching her closely, still not sure what to expect; Erin walked over to where the engineer was standing, fingers still twitching, but even though she clearly was nervous, she didn’t let this stop her, only stopping when she was right in front of Holtzmann, taking in a deep breath, never breaking eye contact with the engineer – until she leaned in and closed her eyes as she kissed her, a soft and innocent kiss, her lips barely applying pressure.

Still she felt Holtzmann kiss her back at once, without a second of hesitation, and with the same gentleness; her heart raced when she pulled back after a while, unable to hold back a smile, one she saw mirrored on Holtzmann’s face as she opened her eyes again.

“That”, Holtzmann said, taking hold of Erin’s hand, “was neither little nor big, that was huge. And awesome.”

“Happy to hear”, Erin still had time to say, then Holtzmann pulled her close for another kiss, a slightly more passionate one this time, and as Erin kissed her back, she was grateful for all the little things, happy that they had added up to this big, new and amazing thing in their lives.


End file.
